I'll be totally honest, I hadn't really heard of Duisburg before setting out for a match there. I had to dig out the map to find it - and there it was, slap bang in the middle of that built up corner of North West Germany.

A bit of an oversight on my part really, as it's a city of half a million people and the 12th biggest in the country, nestling just a few miles from Dusseldorf and within a short train journey of Dortmund and Cologne.

Its roots are in industry, mainly steel, but its big claim to fame now is that Duisport is Europe's largest inland harbour, some 150 miles from the sea. So now you know.

First impressions on arriving at Duisburg main train station are reasonable. It's a pleasant, attractive if unsensational enough town almost entirely new, as 80 per cent of it was flattened in the Second World War.

Head right and you'll see the futuristic tourist information centre.

By all accounts there are few attractions, around the inland harbour including, surprisingly enough, the country's biggest museum devoted to inland shipping. There's also a Legoland discovery centre for families, open daily.